Where do we go from here?

Frequently, I write about the desire to return to a less troublesome time. A reality check tells me that is only a dream and that I really am looking at the past through the proverbial “rose-colored” glasses – or the eyes of an idealistic child.

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The Helena Arkansas Daily World - Helena, AR

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Posted Jun. 6, 2013 at 2:40 PM
Updated Jun 6, 2013 at 2:43 PM

Posted Jun. 6, 2013 at 2:40 PM
Updated Jun 6, 2013 at 2:43 PM

Frequently, I write about the desire to return to a less troublesome time. A reality check tells me that is only a dream and that I really am looking at the past through the proverbial “rose-colored” glasses – or the eyes of an idealistic child.
It was a time when Momma took care of those skinned knees and Daddy worked hard to make sure there was food on the table. Those were secure times – secure because someone else was taking care of the world's problems.
Of course the 1950s and 1960s were not perfect. A generation of African Americans were struggling for equal rights, most Americans looked over their shoulders at the cold war and the always threat of nuclear proliferation and this country was about to engage in a long drawn out battle in Southeast Asia. The pressure was on college-aged males to keep up their college grades or face the military draft.
Today, I find it cozy all nestled in the wave of modern technology. Despite a decline in the quality of television programming, technology in the field is greater than it has ever been before. Thanks to DVDs, I can return to those thrilling days of yesteryear and watch all of those programs that at one time I believed were truly lost forever.
My love of music has been enhanced by the development of modern sound technology including compact discs. The sound is of such good quality you almost can feel the raw emotion of a life concert in the comfort of your own home. And my iPhone, I don't leave home without it.
When I was growing up, who would have thought you could go out and rent, buy or stream your favorite movies?
Communication has changed rapidly in just the past few years. Daily newspapers and TV were once considered quick news sources. Now we have all the latest news at our fingertips on our iPhones, making the previous sources looking like the Pony Express. We no longer have to write lengthy letters to our friends and relatives, all we have to do is text them.
My parents also grew up in a rapidly changing world. Their generation lived to see the forerunners of what we take for granted today such as the telephone, the automobile, the television, the airplane and the air-conditioner. My next-door neighbor's mother was quoted as having said, “God should reserve a special place in Heaven for the person responsible for inventing the air-conditioner.”
I grew up in a much softer generation. I never knew what is what like to not have electricity or in-door plumbing. As I grew up, I went from black and white to color TV, from monaural to stereo record players and from typewriters to computers. Each was a major step forward and upward.
You will never find me complaining about what my generation frequently refers to as the “good ole days” but I don't entirely sit around pinning about days gone by. Carly Simon once stated in one of her songs, “Stay right here because these are the good old days.”
At this stage of their lives, I am not sure my children or my grandchildren realize that yet. I know I didn't when I was their age. Life and its changes were just something that I took for granted.
For the life of me, I simply cannot figure out what's coming next as far as technology is concerned. I am sure my parents thought they had seen it all but they hadn't. Having entered my sixth decade on this earth, I hope to experience many more exciting changes because there is no going back. Yesterday is gone, tomorrow we are not promised and all we have is the present.
As far as the future goes, the words of the Chicago song penned by Peter Cetera echo throughout my very being, “Where Do We Go From Here?”